The Grand Canyon From Las Vegas

If you plan n touring the Grand Canyon and leaving from Las Vegas, it is important that you understand that there are two different areas that are offered as tour locations for the Grand Canyon. The reason it is important is that they are completely different locations with very different landscapes and activities offered, and many people who have dreamed of seeing the Grand Canyon that they have seen in books and magazines have the possibility of booking a tour to the wrong location. The marketing from tour companies will generally say "Tour The Grand Canyon" with little to no explanation of the area they are going to, and there is a good possibility that people who have booked a tour from some companies will regret their decision when they find out too late. It is important to understand that the "South Rim" of the Grand Canyon and the West Rim are two very different places, and you have to make your decision based upon what you are looking for in a tour instead of if it is simply going to the Grand Canyon. They are both the Grand Canyon, as is everywhere in between them. Each is simply a different viewpoint with different aspects that will appeal to different types of tourists.

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon is the traditional view point that you have seen in pictures for decades. It contains the Grand Canyon national park, which is the area protected by the federal government as part of our effort to preserve historic and important areas and landmarks. The national park area is very scenic and lush, with hundreds of species of plants and animals that will be able to be observed at any point, as well as offering hiking and rafting, donkey rides and helicopter adventures. The South Rim has traditionally been considered the area that is referred to when you say you are taking a Grand Canyon tour. In recent years, a marketing campaign from the Navajo Indian tribe has provided an alternative area to tour, equipped with a manmade glass bridge for viewing. This area is located in the West Rim, and has struggled to receive tourist traffic due to the fact that it is less scenic and more desert landscape. It is not within the national park system, and as a result there is less to do there, and fewer amenities. The Skywalk Bridge was constructed as a way to lure Las Vegas tourists to the location instead of the traditional national park, and the proximity to Las Vegas was the biggest benefit. This location is 2 hours from Las Vegas instead of 4, and has become the choice for people with extremely limited time who only want a few pictures.

In our opinion, it is worth the extra driving time to visit the actual Grand Canyon National Park instead of the area which is simply "closer." Yes, the manmade bridge is interesting, but the area is generally appreciated for the natural beauty and not for tourist attractions that are much like a ride at a theme park. The Grand Canyon National Park offers outdoor enthusiasts a far wider range of activities that would be considered "adventurous" and also offers the backdrop for the photography that everyone who visits will want to take. If you only have an extremely limited time then the West Rim tours might be the answer, but if you actually want to visit the Grand Canyon we suggest the South Rim. Buyer beware.

Portions of this article were written using information from Bindlestiff Tours at

https://www.bindlestifftours.com/package/grand-canyon-overnight/

The Best Grand Canyon Tours From Las Vegas

Visitors to Las Vegas have an enormous amount of choices when it comes to entertainment during their vacation. A city that started as a simple town that was positioned to provide the things that travelers needed as they were traveling across the desert eventually grew into a destination of it's own, due to the fact that you could do things here that you could not do elsewhere. Las Vegas became the place where people actually traveled to in order to be entertained, as opposed to a place they stopped over while going to that place. Over the years the levels of entertainment and the amount of choices has grown to a level that is far beyond nearly every other place on earth, and as a result travelers have more hotel and restaurant choices, more shows and gambling, more sightseeing and music options than everywhere else. There are also more flights in and out of Las Vegas than most other airports, and the flights can be had from nearly all cities for low prices.

People that love the outdoors also have a soft spot for Las Vegas, even though some might not understand why because it is primarily an "inside" city filled with casinos and shows. In reality, the positioning of Las Vegas that made it a perfect place to use as a stopover also makes it the perfect place to start from if you are touring southwestern national parks. There are more than five national parks within a half-day drive of Las Vegas, and because driving is really the only way to reach the majority of these parks it serves as the perfect starting point. Many people fly into Las Vegas and book a hotel room simply to use as the starting point for the travel to the national parks of their choice. The most popular destinations from Las Vegas are Zion Canyon and the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is so popular from Las Vegas that there are almost 15,000 searches for information about it on Google every month, and the competition between tour companies that provide Grand Canyon tours is fierce. One interesting aspect of this competition is that these companies do not all provide the same tour product, and many of them tour a completely different area of the Grand Canyon than the traditional national park area. For this reason, tourists must research which tour they are being offered in order to avoid disappointment.

It is important to understand that there are two very different Grand Canyon tours that are offered by companies in Las Vegas. Some tour the "West Rim" which is an area of land that is controlled by the Navajo Indian tribe and features a manmade glass bridge. The other tours go to the "South Rim" which is the traditional viewing point within the national park, and offers a wide range of activities like hiking and helicopter rides. The two areas are part of the same canyon, but are very different. The West Rim is less scenic and is more of a desert landscape. The South Rim is more green and scenic, and is probably the area you have seen in pictures. Both of these areas are offered by tour companies under the title "Grand Canyon Tours" and many people can be mislead into thinking they were going to the scenic national park area by not paying attention. The West Rim is more designed for Las Vegas tourists short on time, because it only takes two hours to get there instead of four. The South Rim, however is far better of an area to tour, as it has more scenery and wildlife to view, more hiking and rafting, and more exploration opportunities. Choose your Grand Canyon tour carefully!

Aspects of this article were researched using Bindlestiff Tours at

https://www.bindlestifftours.com/package/grand-canyon-overnight/

Las Vegas Foodie Tours For Food Lovers

When you come to Las Vegas for a vacation, you are probably looking for a few specific things, namely gambling and entertainment in the form of shows.  However there is another type of tourist that comes to Las Vegas that is not necessarily looking for any of these things, this person actually using the city as a starting and ending point for national parks tours. Because of the close proximity of the city to numerous southwestern parks, many outdoors enthusiasts who have no interest in gambling book plane tickets and hotels in Las Vegas every year. They are actually interested in the entertainment that happens outside of the city in the wide open spaces that surround the city, and they are only really interested in the fact that Las Vegas as a tourist attraction itself offers them cheaper flights and hotels in a logical place to start their journey. If you do not live within a few hundred miles of the national park you want to visit, then you are going to probably spend more time driving than exploring, unless you fly into a nearby city and start the trip from that point. Las Vegas is a logical starting point for Zion, Bryce, Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon. Because of the large number of tourists who undertake this type of trip every year, there are opportunities for tours to be offered within the city as well, and this is exactly what Bindlestiff Tours is doing.

A large amount of the guests that Bindlestiff Tours escorts from Las Vegas to national parks in the region will also book a few extra days to explore the city itself. When you have come to a place like Las Vegas, it would be a shame to not explore the city for at least a few days, but the tourists that are interested in things like national parks are rarely going to spend too much of their time doing research on the best things to do in Las Vegas. As a result, they end up doing the most obvious tourist things, and ultimately will probably not enjoy themselves very much.

Bindlestiff Tours is now offering "foodie" tours of downtown and the strip. These are walking tours of several of the most iconic and famous restaurants in the area, where the group gets to take in the ambiance of the restaurant as well as sample several of the best dishes. These types of tastings are not available to single people who book a reservation, so they are perfect for the person with limited time to spend exploring the city and a desire to try some of the best food that is offered.  There are no reservations necessary at the locations, and the large bills that would typically be part of a fine dining experience in Las Vegas do not apply. You will get to sample the best the city has to offer, and go home talking about all the great restaurants you tried and all the famous chefs who you ate their favorite dishes.  Book your foodie tour today on Bindlestiff Tours website here: https://www.bindlestifftours.com/package/downtown-lip-smacking-tour/

Tour The Canadian Rocky Mountains

Bindlestiff Tours is one of the most well known providers of national parks tours in the southwestern United States.  The majority of their product line involves tours of national parks that are within a one-half day drive of Las Vegas, where they are headquartered.  This provides a convenient starting point for travelers who can book an affordable room as their base of operations, or use their Las Vegas vacation as the starting point for the tour.  The packages have traditionally involved the parks that are surrounding Las Vegas, including Zion Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon.  The reason that these tours are the primary focus of the business is because they can be reached from the starting point in Las Vegas within a one-half day drive, and in addition there are other tours like Death Valley which operates in the same way only it is a single day tour because it can be driven to and from in the same day.  They offer a single day tour of Zion as well, due to the fact that it is only a 2.5 hour drive from Las Vegas, however the majority of single day tours are offered as private tours.

In 2018, Bindlestiff Tours is expanding their product line to offer a few new products that are not offered with Las Vegas as the starting point.  The newest offering is a tour of the Canadian Rocky Mountains that leaves from Seattle and uses Vancouver as the base of operations once in Canada. The tour itself lasts seven days and includes Kamloops, Yoho National Park, Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Ice Fields Parkway, Jasper National Park, Mount Robson, Clearwater, Whistler and Vancouver.

The group meets in Seattle on a specified date at a pickup point, and immediately crosses into Canada where Kamloops is the first stop.  Each day will have a new adventure as your private tour guide takes you through some of the most beautiful scenery and hiking spots on earth, as experienced only the way a Bindlestiff Tour can be.  We provide a type of tour called "adventure travel," where a guide who is an experienced traveler themselves brings small groups through the area in the way that an explorer would, instead of looking at scenery through the windows of a bus.  The way that we structure our tours is more of an interactive platform, where our guests experience the area by actually interacting with it, hiking, camping and generally enjoying the special aspects of the area that we are touring.  Our Canadian Rockies Tour is unlike any other tour you will ever take.  If you are interested in booking our Canadian Rockies Tour, visit Bindlestiff Tours website today.